The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom fluctuates between high fantasy and the mundane. Link’s toolbox can consist of mystical fire rods or just a plain old fan. Far from being boring, the ‘normal’ side of this fantasy world helps inspire awe in those everyday objects and happenings. Now, Tears of the Kingdom inspires people to share videos about how they see Hyrule in everyday life.
Link has a new set of powers inside Tears of the Kingdom which he can use to build structures with items scattered around Hyrule. Link can build with various objects in the world, such as scrap wood or stones, but he can also use special technology passed down from an ancient civilization called Zonai Devices. While some of this mystical technology resembles real-world objects, many have sci-fi-like uses. A fan is simply not a fan, but can be combined with other objects to create a glider or a hoverbike.
Now people are drawing comparisons between Link’s escapades and their real lives. For example, this TikToker jokes about how Link touches the Zonai devices to turn them on and off. In this video, the person throws a tape dispenser at a fan and it starts spinning, causing the appearance that hitting it turned it on.
Or there is this person, who seems to think very hard about this fan after playing the game.
Here’s another great fan joke.
This one leans towards the exploration elements of the game, as the TikToker jokes about finding a sanctuary in the woods.
It’s all mostly a meme. But I would like to think that the power of Tears of the Kingdom is more than the way it lets people escape to a fantasy land. It also encourages seeing the wider world with a sense of openness and curiosity – and I think that’s kind of cute.